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This just hit the net, things do not sound good. Woosnam sounds like he never had a plan.

Why did Cedar Fair approve him (or his secret buyer) as purchaser of the Big Dipper? Special home indeed. CF board just got a new board member connected to a major Akron company, I wonder if they have a connection to APEX.

http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/07-10-2008/0004847172&EDATE=

ACE Clarifies Position on Geauga Lake Big Dipper

AURORA, Ohio, July 10 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The purchase and
subsequent closure of Geauga Lake by Cedar Fair, LLP evoked concern within the enthusiast and preservationist communities from almost the moment it happened. At the forefront of this concern was the future of the venerated park's classic Big Dipper roller coaster, which is the country's seventh oldest roller coaster. American Coaster Enthusiasts (ACE) has made saving this coaster a high priority. Although the park was home to two other wooden coasters, it was Big Dipper that attracted preservationists' attention due to its age and status as an ACE Coaster Classic. Almost immediately, members of ACE's Executive Committee began a dialogue with government officials, business leaders, and Cedar Fair executives, hoping to come to an agreeable solution to save this highly regarded coaster.

Possible solutions included dismantling the ride and reconstructing it at another Cedar Fair property, dismantling the ride and storing it for future erection, or keeping it onsite as part of a new, multi-use development. There is currently a submitted bid for the property from a Cleveland developer that would preserve the ride on site, yet no decision has been made by Cedar Fair or its real estate agent, Colliers International.

The coasters were advertised as being for sale in November 2007 although no real offers surfaced. With the publication of the auction flyer, the Big Dipper was initially not included. It was however added to the listing by Cedar Fair management in late April 2008.

The timing of the auction coincided with ACE's national convention in
Georgia, where all of the members of the Executive Committee were expected to be present. Two of the committee members did, however, attend the auction. ACE officers and others present were stunned when the auctioneer mentioned ACE before the bidding started, erroneously stating that ACE had declined a donation of the Big Dipper. ACE's past president verbally refuted the comment and drew much attention to what has since continued to be an ongoing controversy. The coaster sold for $5,000 to Apex Western Machinery Movers represented by Tom Woosnam, who told media in attendance that he was in the business of removing structures and machinery but made this purchase as an agent for an undisclosed party who wanted to preserve the structure as a non-working ride. He went on to also purchase the Raging Wolf Bobs for $2,500. Just four days after the auction, he contacted ACE and stated that his client would donate both the Big Dipper and the Raging
Wolf Bobs to the organization, free of charge, with the provision that ACE
could only use Apex for the removal. Subsequently, ACE officials grew wary of the offer when questions were not fully answered, deadlines were pushed, and inquiries about the possibility of certain parts being donated to ACE were met with disparaging comments from the winning bidder. In addition, Apex had no known experience dismantling coasters, and their estimate was two to three times higher than an evaluation provided by a company professionally experienced in moving wood roller coasters. Furthermore, ACE learned that the bidder had been involved in a situation following a 2006 auction that resulted in a court case entitled State of Ohio v Woosnam 2006-Ohio-6327.

ACE wants to save Big Dipper. But as a modest non-profit organization,
despite being rich with enthusiasm, ACE's resources are limited. Mark Cole, ACE's president, explains, "ACE has money in reserves that is earmarked for Preservation and Museum/Archival efforts. Even if these funds were enough to cover the cost of dismantling Big Dipper, there are the issues of transporting it, the massive amount of space it would take to store it, and the question of what ACE would ultimately do with it. The coaster has already been shopped to other park operators, and there haven't been any takers. This is a most unfortunate situation." If the Big Dipper structure were to be razed, ACE is still very interested in obtaining the trains, blueprints, and other key parts for archival purposes and even possibly future use. Naturally ACE would prefer the ride to remain intact and on site, because of its historic significance to the community.

Founded in 1978, ACE is a non-profit, all-volunteer organization
dedicated to the preservation, promotion, appreciation, and safe enjoyment of roller coasters. With close to 7,000 members in 50 states and 12 countries, ACE is the largest amusement park enthusiast organization in the world. Members of ACE receive newsletters and magazines, as well as the opportunity to attend events.
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"It's a very special ride. We want to make sure it has a proper home." Cedar Fair's Innes on Big Dipper, 12th oldest roller coaster on Earth.

"There will not be a lot more work being done on the property" in 2008 said Innes. CF save BD in 09.

this is sickening, heartbreaking news and it makes me incredibly sad, to say the least. never will i step foot in a cedar fair park again!

Here's a link to the case mentioned in the press release, if this is the same guy it does not sound good:

http://bulk.resource.org/courts.gov/states/Ohio.Ct.App.09/2006-ohio-6327.pdf

Even if that is not the same guy, the rest of the facts in the release speak volumes.
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"It's a very special ride. We want to make sure it has a proper home." Cedar Fair's Innes on Big Dipper, 12th oldest roller coaster on Earth.

"There will not be a lot more work being done on the property" in 2008 said Innes. CF save BD in 09.

I would like to remind everyone including the FOK'ers (Friends Of Kinzel) out there the prolific words spoken by CF Spokesperson Robin Innes "It's a very special ride. We want to make sure it has a proper home."

I know you have heard it before and its in Skygliders sig, but we need to keep shoving this down their throat what a bunch of lier's they are.
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Greed is what caused GL's demise and that just makes me sick. Lets do what we can to rat out Kinzel - hes a snake.

In the end the truth will come out and we will then see whos laughing at who.

My question is why did Cedar Fair accept this bid?

That is really messed up, that a company would purchase the dipper in hoping that ACE would use there CF priced service to move the damn thing. Is everyone gone money hungry or what! This is history people and they are playing with it like it's dice at a craps game.

We have alot of historical stuff dating back into 1700's but, we can't even preserve some history in this damn century for nothin.(Seem's like people don't care for history anymore)
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(ACFG)Anti-Cedar Fair Group

Quote:

Woosnam sounds like he never had a plan.

Oh no, he had a plan alright. Buy the rides as cheap as he can and then try to extort money from some poor suckers who actually want the rides by making them use Apex and charging way more than necessary to move them. And if in fact CF accepted the bid (which am am assuming by now they did since we ahve yet to hear otherwise) maybe they are going to get a kick back when the deal is done for letting them 'store' the ride on site all this time.

Seems to me this was all decided behind the scenes before the auction even began.

just to put my 2 cents in here - i have heard the price from tom - and it is very reasonable, not like ace has said... also remember you cant blame c.f. or apex for the sale of the ride - c.f. tried to sell the ride for months without luck and dont get me wrong i love the ride and it sucks to see this - but were was everyone else at during the auction if the ride ment so much to everyone? i mean really we all knew it was going to be sold for over 3 weeks before the auction - and only 1 other park came to bid on it -

so as much as i love this park i dont see how you can blame either c.f or apex for the sale of the ride - its just buisness - and frankly it is what it is

What other park bid on it?

I am so sick of this BS. What the hell does CF have to do to finally look bad? How much worse does it get than this?? ACE wanted to keep BD where it was. They didn't want to move it and I'm sure they don't have the money to move it. Keeping it on site would be cheaper for them. I'm sure they were hoping that CF would do a joint thing to keep the land. Didn't CF say they would do a joint project with a bid? Isn't saving a part of history important to CF? Sounds like a good investment to me. Unless of course CF really doesn't even care about historical coasters. It looks to me like there is alot more to this BD story and I can't wait until the truth comes out. CF killed the park and are now killing BD. If all the facts were in print and the public saw it all for what it is...they would see this plan was started years ago. Instead people fall for the gracious CF side of it all. Look at the facts people...CF wants it all gone for good, there will be no part of it left. And when WWK closes, they will get away with it all over again. I wish we could stand up and fight for BD...but it is too late now.

I really find this heartbreaking.... I found that the dismanteling of BD by APEX .... (negotiations with ACE) to only use APEX who had NO EXPERIENCE DISMANTLING WOODEN COASTERS quite a fright in the article....hopefully when they make an anouncement the big dipper will stay on site.
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Geauga Lake I will miss you!

i believe it was the owner of knobles was there and only bid 2,500.00 for it and then just stoped

Here are some quotes from the article on the ACE website. CF is playing stupid...as usual. It says...

Cedar Fair representatives have responded to ACE’s voiced concerns by stating that the situation is out of their hands now while the proposed plans that the owner had for the two coasters have never made it to light.

Mr. Woosman has also offered the coaster to other groups, on a forum on the Sandusky Register newspaper where he wrote on July 1, 2008: "As the buyer …of this coaster, time for action is NOW. If you want to talk about it, go ahead. If you want to save it, money is all it takes. There is a deal available for anyone who wants to do something about it, not just talk about it. Contact me for details."

Does this sound like the type of person CF should have sold the BD to? CF could have said no to the offer and it sounds like they should have.

I wonder if this Woosman guy is being set up CF? Think about it. He probably doesn't really know what he is getting himself into. CF is looking for a "buyer" that they will need to approve. He is given specific instructions on how to present it to ACE (which everyone knows ACE can't accept as they are a non-profit with limited funds and resources). Then Woosman says "enough" and tears them down for scrap and the like. He takes the blame, not CF. But as Coasterdad points out "CF Spokesperson Robin Innes "It's a very special ride. We want to make sure it has a proper home."

I guess a proper home in CF's eyes is a scrap heap. I wish someone could dig into this a check out APEX's relationship with CF closely. I bet something stinks to high heaven there.

I also agree. I think they payed him to out bid anyone there, so CF could still scrap the coaster without getting blamed for it, but CoasterDAD, maybe you can help us with more info.
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(ACFG)Anti-Cedar Fair Group

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